Popular upraiseing in Basra!!!

[nephilimiyr]

Reports from Sky news and Fox says a popular upraising is taking place in Basra by the Shia Musslim population. The reports are that the Iraqi forces are firing motar rounds on top of them, THEIR OWN PEOPLE!

 

[Nelzador]

Yes, but I am watching BBC News 24 right now and they showed British Artillery firing at Iraqi Mortar positions.

 

[nephilimiyr]

The reports are saying that the people are fed up with not haveing any food and water and want Saddam to go. The Iraqi forces are firing artillery rounds at them! The people are demonstrating in the streets!

 

[nephilimiyr]

Yes, but I am watching BBC News 24 right now and they showed British Artillery firing at Iraqi Mortar positions.

Lets hope the Brittish take them out. Their firing on their own people!

 

[ksen]

WOO! HOO! Let's hope the same thing happens when we get to Baghdad.

 

[Nelzador]

Oh we will. Our Seventh Armoured Brigade took out mortars and tanks this morning. I think we'll go into Basra once we've destroyed the Mortar points in that city.

 

[Didymus]

do you think the people of bagdad will rise up to help our soilders ?

 

[nephilimiyr]

do you think the people of bagdad will rise up to help our soilders ?

Good question, I don't know the answer though. From what I'm hearing is that the reason these people have decided to upraise is because their hungry and need water and other supplies. They know the coalition has what they need in the waiting and that the only thing that is preventing them from getting it is the Iraqi forces continueing the fight. Will this happen in Bagdad?

I hope as I'm sure many of us hope that this upraiseing will fuel more around the country. Perhaps if they get the news the the Iraqi army is slaughtering their own people this will be the trigger?

 

[Nelzador]

Baghdad has a large Shia Muslim population. Up until the events in Basra, Shia Religious leaders were instructing the Shia to not get invovled in the conflict. It's possible that if the Iraqi's retreat into Baghdad and start harassing the local Shia's, an uprising could occur, but I doubt that at this stage. Two different cities with different types of troops.

The thing with Basra is that the Iraqi troops in there are pretty much light infrantry and don't have the artillery or strength of the Republican Guard up north. So Basra has a thousand troops in the city, lightly armed, harrassing the population compared to 15,000 troops in Baghdad and maybe 30-40,000 around the outskirts. Chances of an uprising are slimmer.

 

[nephilimiyr]

I agree Nelzador

 

[nephilimiyr]

All major news outlets are now reporting this with the Iraqi Information Minister now saying that the reports are untrue, of course.

This from BBC.com

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2886235.stm

exerpt from the article

According to military intelligence officials, Iraqi troops in the city have turned mortar fire on their own civilians in an attempt to crush the unrest.

I'm sorry but that is just horrible! How could they do this to their own innocent people?

 

[Nelzador]

It is horrible, but it's nothing new for the Iraqi's. It's how they've always dealt with civil unrest. Someone says "Freedom" and another says: "Shoot him." That's why we're in there.

 

[coastie]

I'm not sure. It seems to me that the reason that the Iraqi gov. controlled TV is saying that Iraq is winning the war in order to dissuade anyone who might oppose them from fighting against the Iraq military.

Fear of reprisal is a large deciding factor for whether or not an Iraqi civilian should take up arms against the regime.

 

[gwyyn]

wasn't the state run tv taken out yesterday or this morning ???

 

[coastie]

I don't know. I haven't seen anything about it on the news, but if that's the case, as long as they can't get the diatribe coming out of Al-Jazeera(sp?) then they have no reason to believe that Sadam is actually winning.

It seems rather elementary to me though. If a foreign military has made it's way into your capital city, it's a pretty safe bet that you're defeated.